sombercrow

Oh I see what you mean. Sorry on that manual there are two things called the post and I wasn't sure what you meant. I do feel like on the manual image it just goes in one hole and out the other, it even says to do it like that. I will try it though tomorrow or when I next get a chance.

Yeah I've got the manual and all that and have been staring at it looking for some sort of solution. And yes I am feeding it the proper counterclockwise, then clockwise manner, as the image in the manual (linked above) shows. Might be a bit hard to tell in the image I posted. I tried it again earlier by wrapping it twice around the left / primary tension wheel, and did 100 or so stitches and it never jumped off. That doesn't exactly explain why it's happening, but a fix is a fix right? I still feel like I'm skipping more stitches than normal, but it's possible that the tension settings for the knobs + bobbin require a lot more precision than they do with thicker thread / needles and I just need to keep dialing it in. Haven't had a ton of sewing time but I will soon enough. Once more, thanks for the advice

I appreciate all the thoughts. Most of these things are conclusions I have come to over the years of owning this. Although one thing you said gave me an idea, which I'll get into in a moment. Did more testing, here's where I'm at. To reiterate, I am using Z99 thread, and a 130 size needle (which are matched on the thread guide). Issue #1 is that I am getting a lot of skipped stitches. I am becoming more convinced that this is partially related to just really needing to dial in the tension, which I'm struggling with doing accurately due to the next issue. But I cannot confirm. Normally I keep my bobbin at what I imagine is about 1 pound of pressure, and with this thin thread I am playing around with about 3-4 pounds I'd guess. I should also note that I have some 160 needles and it seems to skip stitches less when I use them, but they are technically not the right size.. But yes the main issue is that the thread keeps jumping off the second tension knob and wrapping around the post. This seems to happen randomly regardless of a stitch being skipped, or any sort of tension setting (which I have tried some extremes of). I've attached an image as you suggested. But you mentioned something above that makes me wonder, maybe it might have to do with the thin thread not turning the knob right in some way, and hence it needs additional lubrication? I don't know. Because on the other hand I feel like it would only slip out if it was too loose. Yet it seems to happen even when I crank the tension up enough that's blatantly showing in my stitches. So I don't know. While naturally I appreciate any ideas, but I think I will also take your suggestion and call tippmann directly on monday, assuming they are still open due to the current state of the world. Thanks again edit: I feel a need to confirm that I do not have any of these issues with thicker thread and everything works fine

I have an update. I was sort of able to fix the tension problem. However I was hoping it was paired with the initial problem I'm having with the stitch skipping, but apparently it's not. So to rephrase my question, does anyone have experience working with smaller needles + thread on this machine, and if they've had this issue / know what the potential cause could be. If I make 20 stitches, somewhere between 5 and 15 will actually stitch. And when one doesn't stitch, I usually need to crank the handle 5+ times before the bobbin catches it again. It's hard to get more data than that because somewhere in that range (sometimes even after 1-2 stitches), I get this other problem. What keeps happening is that the thread keeps coming off the second tension knob , and spooling around the post that it's supported on. Even at max tension it still happens sometimes. Once more I don't know if those are related or not. Any advice is appreciated, but I will keep at it.

Hello, I've had the machine for a while, but am trying something new and am having some issues, was hoping to get some suggestions from some more experienced boss users out there. While I'm likely to hand stitch, I do have a fair amount of experience using the machine for thicker leather combinations, but lately have been wanting to work on some other stuff. In particular a backpack that is part canvas part leather. The manual / official description of the machine does say it can sew canvas, and while it technically can I guess, I'm having some issues. For starters I bought some size Z99 thread + size 130 needles from the tippmann website, which it states are sized for each other (way smaller than I'm used to though). However, when I sew with them, the machine skips maybe three out of eight stitches, and it's a pain. I took (almost) the whole thing a part and confirmed the machine wasn't damaged and everything seemed fine. Eventually I gave up with that and swapped to a thicker thread and needle. Yet no matter what I did with the tension for both knobs on top, as well as the bobbin casing, the stitches always come out too loose (as in, there is a near straight line of thread, or notches of thread, running along the underside). I can post pictures if anyone wants. I should also note it was the same visual result for both needle sizes. I'm stitching 4 layers of canvas, which is about the same as ~3oz leather in this case, maybe a bit less. So I guess my question ultimately is this. Is there something I'm overlooking? Could it be a needle or thread size thing? Or does the machine just not really work with thicknesses under 4 or 5 oz total? In the demo videos though I saw some stuff that seemed thinner than what I have. I'd appreciate any advice, thank you if you read all this.